soup and crackers
by Jack10
Summary: Katie gets sick. Ben and Lucas make her feel better


Disclaimer: Don't belong to me.

  


Authors note: This has no real point or plot, just a bit of fun. Thanks to Keafers for Betaing for me!

  


Katie didn't want to move. She felt like she'd been run over by a small sub. She was sick, not in the way that required medical attention, just a typical flu. She had all the symptoms: fever, nausea/vomiting, runny nose, headache, and general body ache.

  


It was the flu that was going around the SeaQuest. Dr. Westphalen had given everyone the usual list of precautions: eat a balanced diet, drink plenty of fluids, wash your hands and get plenty of rest. Even with the advice, half of SeaQuest's crew had gotten sick. Katie had avoided it for the last three weeks, but it had finally caught her. She blew her nose gently, not wanting to disturb her stomach. She hadn't been able to keep much down, so far, water was pushing it. 

  


She half laid-half sat in bed, careful to keep her head above her stomach. She turned her head toward the aqua tube. The simple movement relaxed her. Darwin swam up and chattered at her. She smiled her best smile for him. He turned and swam off. He soon returned, bringing a toy up for her to see. He left it there, hoping it would make her feel better. She watched it for awhile, then let the medication take effect.

Three hours later she awoke to a noise beside her. She looked over to see Ben and Lucas sitting down a tray. 

  


"What are you guys doing here?"

  


"Darwin said you were sick, so we brought you Sprite and crackers. Ben said you liked the butter crackers."

  


Katie smiled at them. 

  


"I don't know if I can keep anything down right now."

  


"That's ok, eat when you feel you can." said Lucas with a mothering expression.

  


Katie almost laughed. Lucas was such a strange person. He could be so cocky and condescending at times, yet he could also be sweet and mothering. Ben's voice broke through her thoughts. 

  


"If you feel up to it later, I can bring you some soup."

  


Katie smiled at her ex-husband. Ben had always tried to make her feel better when she was sick. Once he'd driven 30 miles just to find the butter crackers she wanted.

  


"Thank you both. I'll try to eat. I think the worst is over."

  


Lucas and Ben gave her goofy grins. 

  


"It's nothing, Katie. You do stuff like this for us, the least we can do is return the favor." Lucas said.

  


"True." 

  


Katie said as she took an experimental drink of the soda. It tasted a little funny, but then so did everything. It hit her stomach relatively ok. She was tempted to try a cracker to see if she could stand that. Lucas shifted his weight, not wanting to intrude on her. 

  


"Do you want us to stay?" Lucas asked shyly.

  


"If you want. I'm mainly in the stare aimlessly stage. I 

wouldn't mind though."

  


Lucas and Ben looked at each other, then Katie, then said "ok."

They sat down and began to tell Katie about what new was happening. She ate the crackers and drank her soda as she listened. Lucas was starting a new self modifying program that was supposed to help in combat situations, while Ben was starting a new _business _venture. 

  


Her stomach was liking the idea of the crackers. She was starting to think the soup would be ok to try. Katie looked at the guys, then asked "What kind of soup do they have?"

  


"Chicken noodle and beef vegetable. What kind would you like? I'll go get it for you." Lucas said standing.

  


"I guess chicken noodle. Thank you for waiting on me."

  


Lucas just shrugged.

  


"It's not a problem. I had this last week, so I know how you feel." 

  


Lucas said with a smile as he bounced off to get her soup.

She watched Lucas leave, wishing she had half his energy. She turned her attention back to Ben. He was shaking his head slowly. He turned and smiled back at Katie.

  


"Feeling any better?"

  


"A little. I owe you guys for this."

  


Ben smiled at her, a faint blush covering his cheeks.

"Lucas thought to bring you the soup, I just knew what crackers you like."

  


Ben looked away, as if he were thinking of something. Katie looked at Ben, then reached over and squeezed his hand. 

"What are you thinking about?"

  


Ben shook his head, then squeezed her hand back.

  


"Just thinking about Lucas. He's a great kid."

  


"I know what you mean. He's sweet, but mischievous."

  


Ben looked at Katie, uncertainty showing in his eyes. He decided to just ask.

  


"Do you ever wonder what our kids would have been like?"

  


Katie could see that Ben wasn't up to anything. He had a gentle side that most people didn't see. 

  


"I sometimes wonder what they would be like, who they would look like, who's temper would they have, stuff like that."

  


"With my charm and your good looks, just think!"

  


Katie rolled her eyes. 

  


"Your charm?"

  


"Of course, I'm known for it!"

  


Katie started laughing. She laughed so hard she almost fell out of bed. Ben smiled, having achieved his goal. 

  


"Well, I think I'm charming."

  


Lucas came in with the bowl of soup, sitting it on Katie's desk.

  


"Ben, Darwin thinks your charming." Lucas said.

  


"See Darwin approved! I'm charming."

  


The statement made both Lucas and Katie laugh. 

  


"Ben quit, my sides hurt!" Katie said still laughing.

  


"You two just don't appreciate my charm."

  


Lucas rolled his eyes, then said "Your charm got me in trouble last shore leave."

  


"You survived."

  


Lucas turned to Katie, then asked "How's the soup?"

  


"Not bad, it almost tastes normal."

  


"It should, it's genetically altered."

  


Lucas cut Ben off in mid sentence.

  


"Ben, please! She doesn't want to hear your theory of imitation food. If you like, I'll bruise your orange in the morning."

  


Katie smiled at their banter. She had already heard Ben's gripes about the perfect food. They carried on until Ben looked at his watch.

  


"We'd better go. We're supposed to be on the bridge in 10 minutes."

  


"Oh yeah, I get to do the debugging of the virtual reality software."

  


Katie made a face.

  


"That's why I went into hardware."

  


"You're lucky. Are you going to be ok?" asked Lucas.

  


"Yes, thank you. You guys have been great."

  


"Any time Katie, any time." Ben said as he smoothed her hair back from her face. 

  


Ben got up and walked to the door. Lucas followed, saying 

  


"Just page us if you need anything, especially if it's during the test."

  


Katie smiled and waved as they left. They had made her feel better. She sat back against her pillows, feeling better in both body and mind.

  


  


  



End file.
